Haryana to buy 2,000 MW power from Bhutan

In its bid to resolve the power crunch in the state, Haryana has approached Bhutan to provide hydel-power, an official said on Saturday. The state plans to purchase 2,000 MW power from the country. Haryana chief minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda would lead a high-level delegation to Bhutan from Dec 14 to 16 for talks on the power purchase, the official added.

In its bid to resolve the power crunch in the state, Haryana has approached Bhutan to provide hydel-power, an official said on Saturday.

The state plans to purchase 2,000 MW power from the country. Haryana chief minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda would lead a high-level delegation to Bhutan from Dec 14 to 16 for talks on the power purchase, the official added.

"Visit of the chief minister to Bhutan in connection with the purchase of 2,000 MW of hydel-power is very significant step for making the state free of any power shortage in the coming days.

Senior officers of power utilities department would be part of this high-level delegation to Bhutan," said Haryana power minister Ajay Singh Yadav.

"Coal based power plants are operational in the state, but keeping in view the limited resources and increasing rate of power, other alternatives of power generation needed to be sought to meet increasing future demands.

Hydel-power is available at cheaper rates as compared to coal-based power plants," he added.

However, Haryana has already started working in this direction as senior officers of power utilities department had visited Bhutan and interacted with their officials. Yadav said that the rates of the power would be as per the MoU (Memorandum of Understanding) that would be signed between the two countries during Hooda's visit.

If this MoU is successfully signed then it would help to ensure uninterrupted power supply of 14 to 20 hours to the rural consumers in the state.

Besides, Haryana government is also exploring the possibilities of purchasing hydel-power from Arunachal Pradesh in the future.